Shizue Tachibana
Shizue Tachibana (橘静江, Tachibana Shizue) is an S-Rank Missing-Nin originally from Kirigakure. Around the time of her birth, Kirigakure's fear of war led to prejudice against all inheritors of Kekkei Genkai, a policy instructed by the Sixth Mizukage Fuyuki. This led to a vast majority of murders, and a decline within the population of the village itself. Watching as her parents and siblings were slaughtered before her, Shizue vowed for revenge. She fled from the village at the adolescent age of 9, annihilating those who pursued her through the front gates by manipulating her bones. She appeared on various Bingo Books the very next day, and was declared as a traitor by the entire Shinobi world for evading her death. Background The Beginning Shizue Tachibana was brought into this world by a loving couple residing in Kirigakure. The seventh of nine children, Shizue learned to become independent, as there wasn't always enough love to be passed around. All eight of her siblings garnered the ability to manipulate their bones, a special ability, or rather, a Kekkei Genkai known as Shikotsumyaku. Shizue's father was an expert when it came to bone manipulation, using it in conjunction with his lightning nature type to cripple those who opposed the family. A gifted shinobi as they came, he served under direct orders of the 'Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumī. He played the role as her messenger, delivering word to neighboring villages and countries, while also serving as the woman's assistant and bodyguard, ensuring her protection at all times. He was also responsible, alongside his spouse, in training each and every single one of his nine children, to become gifted shinobi, and bring change to the world. He preached peace and equality, teachings that would remain with Shizue for the rest of her life, and guide her to the right path, as well as help her make important decisions that would place herself in positions to succeed. Above all else, he taught his children to believe in themselves, and scolded them whenever they lacked self confidence. Shizue bore great respect for both parents, though highly favorited her father. One of nine children, Shizue trained vigorously to differentiate herself from her siblings, in order to achieve the approval and respect of her father. She succeeded in doing so, as her terms of progress out shined the other eight, leading Shizue's father to take exceptional pride within his daughter, and begin solely focusing on her, whilst instructing his wife to look after the others. One on one training sessions proved their worth, as Shizue quickly blossomed as a genius. It was under the tutelage of her father, that Shizue was able to master her special abilities at such an adolescent age. Coming of age, Shizue successfully passed the academy qualification exam on her very first try, earning great praise from her loved ones. As an attractive young woman, Shizue was the crush of many of her peers, who often failed their own exams as a result of continuously staring at her. Declared as a distraction, Shizue was forced to partake in one on one tutoring sessions. The sessions however, played a crucial role in the young girl's success, allowing her to focus on her work, and solely on her work. She flourished immensely, passing her final exams and graduating from the academy at the age of 9. Chūnin Exams Following her brilliance in the academy, which allowed her to graduate at the age of 9, Shizue was placed on a three man squadron, under the guidance of Chōjūrō. Chōjūrō was a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, a select group of powerful swordsmen specializing in none other than the art of fighting with blades, known as Kinjutsu. Her sensei's fighting style greatly encouraged Shizue's own usage of her bones, in the form of blades. Viewing Shizue as a once in a generation prodigy, Chōjūrō took it upon himself to ensure the girl would reach her maximum potential. The two met twice everyday to train alone, once early in the morning before the sun had come up, and late every night after the sun had already set. Vigorous training sessions like this allowed for Shizue to gain an even bigger edge over her peers, including those who were on her team. If it were not for the girl's beauty, some argue whether or not she would have been liked very much. Time came for the Chūnin Exams, which that particular year happened to take place in Amegakure. During her brief tenure within the village, Shizue came upon a nest, along with a newly birthed, second Black Salamander. Treating the situation with extreme caution, the girl managed to escape unharmed, though planned to return to the hidden cave sometime after the Chūnin Exams. During the second round of the Chūnin Exams, Team Chōjūrō was rewarded a Heaven scroll to pursue an Earth scroll. Sticking together, the team strategy relied on the young Shizue to act as a decoy. Holding the Heaven scroll with both hands, Shizue faked an injury by using her Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai. A single bone emitted from the girl's knee as she rested against a tree, making it seem as though the girl had torn her anterior cruciate ligament. Hoping to take advantage of the poor girl, another team arrived, luckily with an Earth scroll. The team was then ambushed from behind, while caught in the crossfire of several bone bullets emitting from Shizue's entire body, resulting in a win for Team Chōjūrō. The third round of the Chūnin Exams called for a preliminary round, where contestants were pitted against one another. Shizue was matched up against a puppet master from the hidden sand village, proving to be a challenge for the smaller girl. Manipulating his several puppets, the boy himself was left vulnerable to close range taijutsu, which worked to Shizue's advantage. Using her bones to pierce through his puppets, she made her way to their controller, who had no time to counter due to the girl's sheer speed. Shizue eventually was announced victorious, considering the match as a valuable lesson in her own rights. The poisons she was introduced towards in the match would play a role in her eventual decision to seek the Black Salamander once again. Qualifying for the final rounds, Shizue was pitted against a member of the Uchiha clan, who possessed his clan's Kekkei Genkai. Renowned as a genius, the boy was expected to win the match, fueling Shizue's motive to another level. The match broke out as a ninjutsu war, with each of the children's techniques canceling one another. However, at one point, Shizue hid her bone darts within one of her techniques, which formed as projectiles and caught the Uchiha off guard. Weakened, the boy saw Shizue's incoming attack with the use of his sharingan, however, was not able to counter as a result of the pain. Shizue quickly took advantage of the opportunity by piercing the boy's stomach, careful not to strike any vital organs. Knocked into critical condition, the match was stopped, leading Shizue into the semifinals. Shizue's next match was against Yamigakure's hometown hero. The boy expressed his confidence against Shizue prior to the match, forcing Shizue's competitive nature to ignite the very best within her. The boy was a profound user of water release techniques, though was no match for Shizue's lightning related attacks. Easily outmatched, the boy apologized for his arrogance after choosing to forfeit the match. Shizue entered the final match of the Chūnin Exams as the clear cut favorite. As a nine year old, Shizue was matched up against a fellow prodigy, who was much older than her. The fight began with several even clashes. The crowd roared, filled with excitement. Using her bones to her advantage, Shizue prohibited her opponent's close combat taijutsu style, leading him to lose the match. Emerging victorious throughout the entier Chūnin Exams, Shizue was promoted to a Chūnin. Shizue later returned to the cave to a slaughtered Black Salamander. Cautious with her procedures, the young kunoichi carefully smuggled the charred remains of the reptile back with her to Kirigakure, where her father surgically implanted the sac of the salamander into Shizue's body. The sac itself was greatly hidden, and was stored within the girl's stomach, with no prominent mark left as evidence. Shizue also managed to gain a degree of control, where she could at will control the toxic that emitted from her mouth, thus, taking away the necessity to wear a mask at all times. This certain event within her lifetime was hidden, with not even the then Mizukage, Mei, ever knowing of the procedure. It also led to an immunity for all poisons in general for the little girl. Shizue Gaiden Later during the same year, Shizue's exceptional set of skills led her to become on of the youngest Jōnin in the existence of the village, earning her a spot as the Mizukage's left hand, bodyguard, assistant, and overtaking her father's position as the messenger. Mei took exceptional pride in Shizue, believing in her until the very end. The two shared a close bond, with frequent meetings every single day, most of which, had nothing to do with mission related subjects. The Mizukage's trust within Shizue eventually led to her promotion as a member of the Hunter-nin, where she was expected to conceal her identity whilst severing the village from the shadows. Assigned to slaughter Konohagakure's Kakashi Hatake, a nine year old Shizue departed from the village to pursue her task. Arriving on the outskirts of Konohagakure, she carefully hid herself, while Kakashi was in the midst of a training session with one of his new genin. He was mentoring the latter in a jutsu none other than the chidori, to which Shizue took great interest in, and managed to hide herself long enough, thoroughly analyzing the technique with her sheer gift of brilliance. After the conclusion of the session, she chose to strike Kakashi when he was alone, though to no avail. She returned home as a failure, though deep down inside, she had managed to secure the secrets of the latter's signature technique. The next several weeks of her childhood were spent honing lightning elements within her hands, developing the use of the chidori through her own methods. A fierce objective, Shizue's efforts resulted in failure time and time again. However, she eventually seemed to get the hang of things, producing a much weaker variant of the lightning cutter. Through several years of practice, she was able to manipulate the usage of the technique on point, going as far as to developing the chidori current for her own usage, similarly to how Sasuke Uchiha had done after fleeing from Konohagakure. The lightning cutter came next, though took a more considerable amount of time then the next to accomplish, a feat she accomplished long after her banishment from Kirigakure. Utilizing the chidori on her various missions, used in conjunction with her black salamander venom, Shizue created quite a name for herself. Though her family was highly coveted by even the village's own people, Shizue paid her respects for the village, honoring it's history and preserving it's rights. However, all things changed on the night the Mizukage was murdered by Fuyuki, who along with placing himself as the new Mizukage, brought in a new set of laws. Unvarnished Pertinence On the night of Fuyuki's reign, Shizue entered the Mizukage's office to find a dying Mei. Rushing to her side, Shizue was warned to alert the others, as well as watch over her own family. With tears in her eyes, Shizue abandoned Mei with the hopes of rescuing her own family. However, her efforts were in vein, as she arrived through the front doors of her house to witness the deaths of her mother and father. Traumatized by the sight of the dead bodies of her eight siblings, Shizue grasped the body of her dying father. He whispered to her his dying wishes, hopes and dreams to his daughter, advising her to run before they came looking for her. Forced to flee, Shizue's heart was filled with remorse for not being able to rescue her own family, and above all things, offer them a proper burial. Defecting from the village, Shizue was pursued by her own squadron of Hunter-nin. Knowing their techniques well, Shizue found it upon herself to accept their challenge, luring them into the surrounding forests of Kirigakure. Using the branches as her means of protection, Shizue slaughtered her own comrades, and was declared as an enemy to the village by appearing within Kirigakure's Bingo Book the very next day. Personality Appearance Dazgi.png Fewfw.png Kanu8.png Dazfer.jpg Agagag.png Shiz23.jpg Shiz1.jpg Yedaz.jpg 718740-kanu_unchou_16.jpg Dazshiz23.png Shizudaz45.png Dazshi99.jpg Abilities Body Modifications During his visit to Amegakure during the Chūnin exams, Shizue came upon a nest of Black Salamander eggs, as well as a newly birthed Black Salamander, hidden within a far off cave. Keeping things a secret, Shizue later returned to the very same cave after emerging victorious in the Chūnin exams, however, returning to the slaughtered remains of the reptile. She then proceeded to smuggling the charred remains of the reptile back to Kirigakure, including it's untouched toxic sac, where her father surgically implanted the sac within the stomach of his own daughter. Unlike Hanzō, who bore a prominent crease on the bottom left of his torso, directly beside his pelvic area, Shizue's surgery left no such sign of the procedure. In fact, not even the then mizukage, Mei, was made aware of the given events. Unlike her quote on quote 'predecessor', Hanzō, Shizue had a fair share degree of control over the toxic, and therefore, did not require to wear a mask to prevent her comrades from growing ill. Shizue is able to manifest the toxic breath at will, using it under the given circumstances. She has since developed an immunity to all poisons, as well as a secret Antidote that cures her own toxic poisoning. Shikotsumyaku Physical Prowess Ninjutsu Nature Transformation Chidori Assigned to slaughter Konohagakure's Kakashi Hatake, a nine year old Shizue departed from the village to pursue her task. Arriving on the outskirts of Konohagakure, she carefully hid herself, while Kakashi was in the midst of a training session with one of his new genin. He was mentoring the latter in a jutsu none other than the chidori, to which Shizue took great interest in, and managed to hide herself long enough, thoroughly analyzing the technique with her sheer gift of brilliance. After the conclusion of the session, she chose to strike Kakashi when he was alone, though to no avail. She returned home as a failure, though deep down inside, she had managed to secure the secrets of the latter's signature technique. The next several weeks of her childhood were spent honing lightning elements within her hands, developing the use of the chidori through her own methods. A fierce objective, Shizue's efforts resulted in failure time and time again. However, she eventually seemed to get the hang of things, producing a much weaker variant of the lightning cutter. Through several years of practice, she was able to manipulate the usage of the technique on point, going as far as to developing the chidori current for her own usage, similarly to how Sasuke Uchiha had done after fleeing from Konohagakure. The lightning cutter came next, though took a more considerable amount of time then the next to accomplish, a feat she accomplished long after her banishment from Kirigakure. Summoning Technique Stats Part I Part II Video Games Trivia * According to the databook(s): ** Shizue's hobby is playing shogi. ** Shizue wishes to fight Isonade. ** Shizue's favorite dish is the Korokke (croquette コロッケ). ** Shizue has completed 1,141 official missions in total: 197 D-rank, 190 C-rank, 414 B-rank, 298 A-rank, 42 S-rank. ** Shizue's favorite word is . Quotes References